greentara wrote:Actually Berry makes a very good point. 'As far as I can remember doing divinations and fortune telling, or asking for money, is against the rules made by the Buddha for monks and nuns'

Lama Dawa is a ngakpa. Not a bikkshu.

Need help getting on retreat? Want to support others in practice? Pay the Dana for Dharma forum a visit...

Lama Dawa rocks. He is funny too. And his divinations are not really fortune-telling so much as wise direction if you have need of guidance... he claims no rightness, the questions are answered in words he sees, so how you phrase a question often directly affects how the answer reads... he doesn't 'know' all the people he does divinations for, so there is certainly a method to his forward/back seeing.

$25 USD for a suggested donation is not extraordinary. If you wanted to get your astrology chart read by any astrologer it's like a minimum of $60 - or if you wanted your Tarot cards read - you're looking at a minimum of $40USD - if we're comparing 'fortune-telling' prices...

"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget." –Arundhati Roy

The suggested offering is not for Lama Dawa's benefit. It is a general principle in Tibetan Buddhism to make an offering of something valuable every time you ask a Teacher to do anything: bestow a wang, give a reading transmission, explain a teaching, do a puja, give Refuge &/or Bodhicitta vows, do a divination, etc. It is a way of showing one's sincerity and gratitude for what the Lama is giving/doing for you. In Tibet, offering a bunch of butter or a bag of tsampa would be fine. Here, we use money. Last I checked, Paypal did not accept butter or barley. Also, the amount of the offering is only a suggestion. If one was in great need or really valued the service (in this case divination), one might offer considerably more. The issue is, "What's it worth to you and how do you demonstrate that?"

Just my two cents.

BTW, Lama Dawa is wonderful. He is one of the best, most sincere, and humblest Lamas I know, and his mirror divinations are priceless! Most people have no idea of all Lama Dawa does to keep this saha-world running on an even keel. He is a hundred-percent ngakpa with all that really implies.

pemachophel wrote:The suggested offering is not for Lama Dawa's benefit. It is a general principle in Tibetan Buddhism to make an offering of something valuable every time you ask a Teacher to do anything: bestow a wang, give a reading transmission, explain a teaching, do a puja, give Refuge &/or Bodhicitta vows, do a divination, etc. It is a way of showing one's sincerity and gratitude for what the Lama is giving/doing for you. In Tibet, offering a bunch of butter or a bag of tsampa would be fine. Here, we use money. Last I checked, Paypal did not accept butter or barley. Also, the amount of the offering is only a suggestion. If one was in great need or really valued the service (in this case divination), one might offer considerably more. The issue is, "What's it worth to you and how do you demonstrate that?"

Just my two cents.

BTW, Lama Dawa is wonderful. He is one of the best, most sincere, and humblest Lamas I know, and his mirror divinations are priceless! Most people have no idea of all Lama Dawa does to keep this saha-world running on an even keel. He is a hundred-percent ngakpa with all that really implies.

"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget." –Arundhati Roy

greentara wrote:Actually Berry makes a very good point. 'As far as I can remember doing divinations and fortune telling, or asking for money, is against the rules made by the Buddha for monks and nuns'

There is a fee for attending empowerments by HHDL. He is a monk. Is he breaking his vows or being disrespectful to the Vinaya etc. ?

Of course not - let's exercise a little common-sense here folks. He has to hire a venue, travel there etc. and in no way charges for the Dharma.

HHDL uses an oracle, in fact he relies on advice from an oracle - again, is he encouraging fortune-telling?

No, because he is seeking advice on action, not what the future may hold.

We need to be mindful, of course, and expose frauds and cults, but also recognise that in modern times money for expenses enables free teaching.

I was trying to find out more where is Lama Dawa now. I would like to send a requst for a divination but his home page says that he is on a retreat and shall be back after march 2012. So i am checking on and on but there is still the same message. Can someone help me with that please?By the way I was asking Lama Dawa for divination already,cannot say that everything is exact but the most important thing for me is that the divination tells you what should be done in order to get something for example. I never asked a question about what the future will bring,but rather that i have a problem and what shall/can I do to solve it.Best greetings from Norway

One thing that I would like to point out for people who get a mirror divination via e-mail. It is important to ask follow up questions even if you think you know what is being discussed.

For example, did you know that there are more than one people teaching the 'Pure Vision' terma of the Dudjom Tersar lineage? I didn't until years later and that resulted in a very different course of action than I think was more obvious.

IN THIS BOOK IT IS SPOKEN OF THE SEPHIROTH & THE PATHS, OF SPIRITS & CONJURATIONS, OF GODS, SPHERES, PLANES & MANY OTHER THINGS WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT EXIST. IT IS IMMATERIAL WHETHER THEY EXIST OR NOT. BY DOING CERTAIN THINGS CERTAIN RESULTS FOLLOW; STUDENTS ARE MOST EARNESTLY WARNED AGAINST ATTRIBUTING OBJECTIVE REALITY OR PHILOSOPHICAL VALIDITY TO ANY OF THEM.

I was trying to find out more where is Lama Dawa now. I would like to send a requst for a divination but his home page says that he is on a retreat and shall be back after march 2012. So i am checking on and on but there is still the same message. Can someone help me with that please?By the way I was asking Lama Dawa for divination already,cannot say that everything is exact but the most important thing for me is that the divination tells you what should be done in order to get something for example. I never asked a question about what the future will bring,but rather that i have a problem and what shall/can I do to solve it.Best greetings from Norway

If you have an urgent or pressing matter, you can send an email requesting a mirror divination. Best, TD